Professor Michael Helfand, "Are Charter Schools Public Schools?" -- JTA News

Professor Michael A. Helfand's opinion article, "Are Charter Schools Public Schools? The Question That Has Divided Educators Now Has Religious Implications," is published in JTA News. The article considers the Supreme Court's decision to hear a case on the constitutionality of Oklahoma’s St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, what would be the country’s first religious charter school.

Exceprt from "Are Charter Schools Public Schools? The Question That Has Divided Educators Now Has Religious Implications"

The case has all the hallmarks of a blockbuster church-state case, addressing the constitutionality of publicly funded religious education and potentially opening the door to tuition-free Jewish day schools. But the crux of the case comes down to which path the court will pick when facing a constitutional fork in the road: Should charter schools — which are publicly authorized and funded, but privately operated — be considered public schools or private schools?

This question has divided educators for decades, ever since charter schools were developed as a strategy to improve public education. And for the Supreme Court in the Oklahoma case, its answer makes all the difference.

The complete article may be found at JTA News